


So Heroes Get Made

by sophinisba



Series: But my mother thinks he is [3]
Category: Batman (Movies - Nolan), Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Community: purimgifts, Crossover, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-03-11
Updated: 2009-03-11
Packaged: 2017-10-05 20:28:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/45765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sophinisba/pseuds/sophinisba
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harvey dances with Bruce Wayne's date.</p>
            </blockquote>





	So Heroes Get Made

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cidercupcakes (musicforswimming)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/musicforswimming/gifts).



_You said heroes are needed, so heroes get made  
Somebody made a bet, somebody paid   
-Bruce Springsteen, [](http:)Devil's Arcade_

 

Another evening of government meetings in formalwear, conversations about murder and the mob channeled into smalltalk and champaign. And another beautiful woman on Bruce Wayne's arm. Another dancer or a model? Harvey wonders.

"Bruce's personal trainer," she says, and when she shakes his hand he believes her – her grip is that strong, like she could kill him with her bare hands if she wanted to. But when he looks at her face there's a smirk, not quite a roll of the eyes but a movement, a promise that she's no mere assistant, no one's employee.

She and Rachel have never met before, but there's something familiar in the way they meet each other's eyes, in the way they stand next to Bruce, the way they smile at Harvey, that says these three people have an understanding, and Harvey's the odd man out.

It's not like when he's dealing with criminals, or with the crooked cops at Internal Affairs. It's not that they hate him or that they fear him. It's that they've got a secret and they intend to protect him from it. Harvey's too _good_. The White Knight can't know what's really going on, or he couldn't be the good guy anymore.

"Am I too paranoid or not enough, do you think?" he says, half an hour later, when he finds himself dancing with the woman who might be a personal trainer or a business associate, a conspirator, an assassin, for all he knows.

"I think you're just about right," she answers. "I'm not from around here, but from what I hear you're making a killing at the DA's office."

"Don't say killing," he says, "that's not my job."

"Fine then, let's say…making a clean sweep."

"Yeah, that's more like it."

She's a good dancer, smooth and sure, knows just how to respond when he shifts, when he pulls, when he touches her back. He wonders how she dances without a hundred strangers watching, and he decides to pretend that's how it is right now: no pressure, no politics, no partners back at the table, just two people leading each other in perfect rhythm across an empty room. And just as he's really starting to believe, he glances across the room and sees Rachel sharing a joke with Bruce Wayne.

"Ouch," says Buffy, because he's squeezing her hand too tight.

"Sorry." He lets go, but she keeps her arms around him. "How long are you in town?" he asks, even though he wants to ask something else.

"Not long. I thought I might have some work to do out here, but Gotham's problems are…not my specialty, as it turns out."

"So what you're saying is, Bruce is in such good shape he doesn't need a personal trainer."

"Exactly," she says, and laughs out loud, but it doesn't hurt. It feels good, somehow, just putting out in the open that there are things he doesn't know, things she won't say. He laughs along with her, but softer.

She starts them moving again, just a slow sway now, no thought or coordination necessary. "I hate it here," she tells him. "I hate what the Joker's doing, I hate that Batman is some people's idea of an answer, and I hate that I can't fix it."

"I wouldn't be so hard on the Batman if I were you. This city needs a hero."

Buffy shakes her head. "The people of this city want to _be_ heroes. They just need someone to give them the chance. They need to believe they can. Batman isn't going to let them do that."

Harvey doesn't know what to say to that, so he just holds her, and her back is tense but strong under his hands, and she holds her head high and looks him in the eye.

As the music dies down they drift back toward their friends, but before they let go Buffy tells him, "I'm _glad_ you're not making a killing." Then her eyes go to Bruce and Rachel (standing close, but not touching) and she leans in to whisper in his ear, "I'm glad you're not like us."


End file.
